Turbine engines in commercial aircraft have routine maintenance schedules to ensure the engines are optimally performing. However, different components and features of the engine react differently to engine wear and use over time, depending on factors such as the extent of use and environmental conditions to which the engine is exposed.
A thermal barrier coating may be used in the turbine engine to protect the engine from negative effects caused by heat within the engine. Over time, such thermal barrier coatings degrade during use or service of the turbine as a result of spallation and damage, such as exposure to exhaust heat wearing down the coating. As the thermal barrier degrades, the turbine is more susceptible to failures and the coating may need to be restored or replaced. Typically, the thermal barrier coating is restored at regularly scheduled maintenance intervals by disassembling the turbine engine so that a restorative thermal barrier coating can be applied.
This maintenance of the aircraft results in significant down time and expense. As a result of aircraft operation conditions, environmental conditions during operation, and quality of the thermal barrier coating, the thermal barrier coating does not wear and degrade in the same manner for each individual aircraft. Thus, a thermal barrier coating may need to be restored at intervals that do not coincide with the regularly scheduled maintenance schedule of the engine or aircraft. The end result is either reduced engine performance resulting from a coating in use that needs to be restored, or unnecessary down time spent restoring a coating that does not need to be restored.